Twist In My Sobriety
by AmyAndAmnesia
Summary: "What's up with the roof?" "It must've fallen. Just like us." Four seasons - four stories about teen friendship and love.
1. Autumn

**A/N:** Before you read this fic, I must warn you that I initially wrote it in Russian and published it on Ficbook. Then I decided to translate it into English. **I'm not a native English speaker,** **but I've been learning this language for several years and I tried my best in this translation.** So tell me immediately if my vocabulary and/or grammar sucked! I'm open to criticism and will appreciate your help in fixing my possible mistakes and inaccuracies.

The title refers to Tanita Tikaram's "Twist In My Sobriety", but the fanfic was written to Dreadful Shadows' cover on this song. You can also try listening to "God and Devil" by Mental Discipline, it fits here as well. The main characters are about 15-16 years old.

* * *

When autumn set in, the image of Ocean Shores didn't change much: neither tree leaves, nor temperature would fall, and people didn't have to wrap themselves in jackets. Only two things were different: all the shoobies finally left the town, and kids had to go to school. Otto and Twister never really cared about school, but nevertheless the last day of the summer made them feel both excited and scared. They went, no, they rushed for the last waves of the summer — as Otto said, when else would they get a chance to surf? "Well, maybe tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and, actually, any day of the year?" Reggie sniffed when she heard that. But Otto and Twister were too far away to hear her comment, desperately running to the beach. Even the sudden weather change couldn't stop them... well, actually, Twister tried to ditch their plan, but Otto was adamant. _"What's up with you? Don't tell me you're afraid of a soft breeze."_

"I'm catching it!"

Otto's shout was barely audible through wind and water noise. Twister found it a little hard to stand up on the board but he was able to do it anyway, and when he did, he had to narrow his eyes to see his friend ahead of him, so stoked and full of energy.

"Oh yeah... l-let's t-tear it up!" Twister replied to him, feigning his courage.

Then they both started carving, despite this idea being very risky. The gnarly, dreadful wave seemed to have surrendered to them; the two shared a victorious look before they went into the tube. The water barreled the two surfers; they both managed to keep footing, they both handled this wave — what a sweet victory it was! When the wave broke, and Otto left the tube, he was so excited that he couldn't calm down at once, so the stormy Mother Ocean had to hear him shouting for at least half a minute. And because of that Otto didn't notice right away that he was all alone.

"Hey, Twist?!" he cried, looking around with fear. Another gust of wind beat him in his face and stirred the water. "Where are you?"

Twister wasn't seen anywhere, though his board floated around. But only a moment later after Otto had seen it, the all-too-familiar brown striped hat floated to the surface of water.

"Help!" he yelled, turning to the shore and swinging his arms with all his might. "Help, help, help!"

Having heard him, Lieutenant Ryan rushed into the ocean, while Otto himself dived down to search for Twister.

* * *

Twister barely could open his eyes; once he did it, he felt like closing them again because of the strong light shining on his face.

"...I'm sorry that I've never really listened to you... that I always cut you off and scoffed at you... and I'm also sorry for that stuff when..."

Having blinked a few times, Twister finally got used to the light. He soon figured out he was in the emergency department, and there was Otto sitting next to him, his head down and hands holding Twister's limp hand.

Then he heard Otto muttering, "...I'm so sorry that I took your longboard without even asking you and busted it. I'm such an idiot!"

"You broke my longboard?-" Twister asked and coughed. Otto jerked his head up to meet Twister's confused look.

"You're alive!" he cried with excitement.

"Of course I am..." Twister looked around at gaze. "What happened to me?"

"Well, the waves were gnarly, and you fell off the board..." Otto started.

"Yeah, I remember," Twister replied, trying to sit up, but all of a sudden he felt strong pain in his leg and cried, "What was that?!"

"Don't worry! You just sprained your ankle!" Otto said quickly and helped his friend to sit up.

Twister saw a cast on his foot and asked anxiously, "The left one or the right one?"

Otto facepalmed and replied, "The left one, Twist."

Twister sighed heavily.

"How should I play hockey now? Or skate? Or even walk? Oh, man!"

"It'll... it'll be okay!" Otto tried to calm him down. "Only a couple of weeks, big deal!"

"Two whole weeks!" Twister put his face in his hands. "So I have to stick my skateboard to the cast, huh?"

That very moment, a young male nurse came in and noted with satisfaction, "You're already awake, that's good."

"What should I do now, doc?!" Twister yelled, pointing at his cast.

The nurse sighed, as he started his routine check on the patient, "You're definitely not playing extreme sports for three weeks at least."

"Three whole weeks?!" Twister yelled even louder, and when the nurse was gone, he groaned, "Oh maaaan... that's one week more than two weeks!"

Suddenly he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder; he turned his head to meet Otto's knowing look.

"Don't worry, bro." Otto winked at him. "I've got a plan."

They grinned at each other and made their secret handshake.

* * *

However, Otto's plan turned out to be nothing like what Twister had imagined. It was anything but Otto's type of thing: how could he give up all the sports — that is, everything he lived and breathed for — just because Twister couldn't play?

"Are you sure, Ottoman?" Twister asked once again in utter disbelief.

Otto was going to spend the whole three weeks with Twister, not playing hockey, not surfing, not even skateboarding or roller-skating.

 _U-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e!_

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure!" Otto said irritatedly. "It's not so much fun without you anyway, and... and... it's just... nevermind!"

"Or maybe I could use my skateboard as a-" Twister tried to argue again.

"No way!" Otto interrupted him. "I tried this stuff when I broke my leg, and you remember how lame it was."

"Oh, you're right," Twister agreed. "But what we're gonna do all this time?"

In reply to this, Otto said, looking quite pleased with himself, "I took care of everything!"

He took a sheet of paper out of his pocket and put it on the bar.

"It wasn't easy, but I came up with some ideas of what you – I mean, we – can do."

Twister looked at the list and tried to find something dangerous and risky, like, for example, "wheelchair race", something that would be totally in Otto's style. But, no, nothing in the list was anything like this: there were only safe and primarily indoor activities. No extreme sports at all.

 _Who are you and what have you done to Otto?_

 _Can Otto have been kidnapped by aliens and then replaced by one of them?!_

 _Nah, that doesn't make sense._

"Okay," Twister sighed, "we just have to get through this. And-" he stuttered at the end of the sentence. Otto gave him a confused look.

"Thanks, bro," Twister said softly and smiled.

"No problem!" Otto waved his hand dismissively.

At that moment, Tito came and started, putting food on the table, "You know, little cuzzes, this reminds me of..."

"Here comes another boring story about the 70s." Otto whispered in Twister's ear, and the latter chuckled.

Tito heard them and said in an injured voice, "Boring? And it's not about the 70s! This story's gonna be about... about... the 80s, yes!"

"Sorry, Tito, we're listening!" Otto and Twister said, their eyes wide open and looking at him attentively.

As they ate their food, Tito was telling them another story from his youth. However, the story went in one ear and out the other, because the boys were out of it: Twister was busy thinking of the sacrifice Otto made for him, while Otto... was busy thinking of the sacrifice he made for Twister. Yes, he was serious about it. He seldom felt his own guilt so clearly, and never in his life did his heart bleed so much for his best bud — so many disturbing thoughts he got on his mind in that short time he waited for Twister to wake up. But the whole three weeks... no, he had already made up his mind. He could handle it, definitely.

* * *

At first, it wasn't that bad. Every day after school Otto and Twister, as usual, made their way home together, but on foot instead of a skateboard or a bike. They both were not used to it, and, of course, it took them a bit more time to get there. Reggie and Sam couldn't keep the slow tempo and often went ahead of their friends.

"Maybe you guys should give a chance to aggressive street walking?" Sam teased them from day to day.

Otto and Twister's answer remained the same, with their thumbs down, "Lame!"

"Ha! You're just afraid of competing with me because I had years and years of practice!"

Truth be told, Sam and Reggie were upset at Otto's being off the team: Twister alone could be filled in by somebody else, but they couldn't replace their captain. For that reason all the Rockets' matches were put off until better times. But both Reggie and Sam fully supported Otto's decision, amazed at how selfless it was. Of course, they didn't forget about Twister, but they, indeed, spent much less time with him than Otto did.

Whenever they went to Madtown or to the beach, Otto said with a peaceful smile, "Good luck to you, guys!"

After that, he and Twister were left to themselves at home. Together they were busy both with doing their boring homework and watching horrors, pizza tasting and skateboard repairing, and, finally, editing the video records Twister had piled up for some time. Otto was suddenly interested in filming and in what Twister did for creating such sick videos. Twister wasn't ready to see Otto actually listening to him, so he was waiting for the other shoe to drop when he talked about the details of his work, but Otto did pay attention to him. Sometimes he also seemed to be a little too caring about Twister, for he was always watching Twister lest the latter should stumble somewhere. _A little too caring…_

"Hey!" Twister glared at Otto, who was holding his shoulders tightly. The latter loosened his grip with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry."

"I just got off the couch..." Twister sighed.

 _Man, it must be aliens!_

At the end of the week, while playing another Tony Hawk game with Otto, Twister freaked out, "Dude, I can't take it anymore! I wanna skate for real!"

"No, just no." Otto said in a firm voice. "Remember what doc said-"

"I don't care!" Twister shouted as he got off the couch and threw his gamepad away. His hands on the back of the couch, he tried to make his way to the door.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Otto cried in an irritated voice, following Twister.

"I'm gonna skate!"

"Don't go!"

"Stop telling me what to do!-"

"I mean, don't go without me."

Twister turned around and gazed at Otto in wonder. Otto, in his turn, smiled at him. He smiled just like the good old Otto, who would have dragged his best bro to a halfpipe even in a wheelchair.

"Oh, thanks for bringing my friend back..." Twister said with a sigh of relief, looking up at the ceiling; Otto gave him a puzzled look.

Twister shook his head to clear his mind. Otto helped him to get down the stairs, handed him his gear and geared up himself. For the hour was really late, they tried to do everything as quiet as possible. They tiptoed around Raymundo, who was sleeping on the couch, and snuck out the house. Otto immediately started cruising around the cul-de-sac — it was obvious that he had felt really "skate-sick" that week. Watching him, Twister put his board on the ground, too, and tried to get on it, but the problem was, he had injured exactly his front foot. So as soon as he pushed, he lost his balance and flew off the board, crying out in pain. Just about that time Otto was going by, so he attempted to catch Twister but ended up falling down together with him.

"What if I try switch skating?" Twister said with little hope, watching his board skate away not too far.

"I don't think it'll work." Otto shook his head, as he got up and dusted himself down.

"Oh, man..." Twister fizzled out and sat up.

Otto had thought a little, then said, "But I-I think I know what may work! Wait a sec!"

He dashed to the garage. He was back in a few minutes on roller skates, holding his new longboard — the one he guarded with his life.

"Since I busted your longboard, you can have mine for now." Otto smiled and handed the board to Twister.

"You mean it?" he whistled, accepting the gift. "I... don't even know how..."

"It's whatever!" Otto waved his hand, but then added, "But only until your ankle is healed."

"Wow..." Twister couldn't keep his eyes off the longboard.

When he grounded the board, Otto stretched out his arms to him. Twister held them tightly and got on the board. They were staring into each other's eyes for a while, until Otto turned and pushed on the ground; they both started rolling slowly. Another glance at each other and simultaneous cheers, they kept gaining speed and skating around the cul-de-sac. At that moment, Twister felt truly happy: his best friend helped him to get on the board even when it seemed impossible. While he snuck occasional glances at Otto, he saw his auburn red curls waving in the breeze. It was still a bit unusual to Twister, because Otto had dreadlocks most of his life, and Twister couldn't remember him with different hair. Finally, when they got tired, they sat on the Rocket house's steps.

"Man, I missed that so much... it's been only a week without skating, but it seemed like a lifetime..." Otto said with a smile.

"Yeah..." Twister closed his eyes peacefully. Then he asked, "Tell me, how did you even come up with that idea? You know, to stop playing everything… it wouldn't hurt me, if you skated without me."

"Well... you know..." Otto stopped short. Then he pulled himself together to say, "I realized something right after that accident. It was totally my fault. Your life was in danger because of me being so cocky."

"Oh, come on, it's not the first time!" Twister said lightly and shrugged.

"That's the problem! We were toast just every time I didn't listen to you!"

"But it was vice versa as well, like, you know, when we-"

Hardly had Twister started remembering, when Otto hissed at him, "Twist, you're ruining the moment!"

"Sorry!" Twister couldn't help smiling, seeing such reaction.

"So... I wanted to change for the better, to become a real best bro to you, not the one who always makes you feel second best. Man, I was so stupid..."

Otto faced away, leaving his thought unfinished.

Twister moved nearer him, gently touched his hand and said, "But Otto, I never doubted you. You've always been my real best bro, and I still admire your skills."

Otto turned towards Twister, his eyes full of hope, and asked, "So you don't mind recording my tricks tomorrow?"

"Anytime, bro!" Twister nudged him, and they both laughed.

However, Otto pointed out, "But I'm not going to give up my intentions. I will respect my bro, always and forever."

"Wow... seems like I'll need some time to get used to this brand new Otto." Twister chuckled. Right after that, he got off the steps and suggested, "Wanna skate a little?"

"Sure, bro!"

* * *

"Look there, Otto is back!" Reggie said to Sam and Trish. They turned towards the shore and saw Otto already paddling to them.

"What about his promise?" Trish was puzzled. Reg could only shrug in response.

When Otto was close enough, Sam greeted him, "Good to see you back in business."

"Yeah, Squid!" Otto nodded in approval and grinned. "It's like I haven't seen the ocean for ages."

"How is Twister doing?" Reg asked.

"He's right over there!" Otto pointed at the shore, where Twister was sitting with his camera, and Twister waved at them merrily. "We had a talk about my promise and decided to go a different way."

Reggie, Trish, and Sam exchanged knowing looks. Otto at that time had already been busy watching the ocean.

He pointed at the upcoming wave, shouting, "I'll have this one!"

"Here you go, Ottoman," the others chuckled and then watched him catching the wave and shredding.

Meanwhile, Twister was recording him on the video. This day the waves were so swell that Twister at first got upset — he was missing all the fun! But the thought about Otto supporting him warmed his heart at once; soon he lost himself in filming and shared his friends' excitement.

After the surfing session the gang decided to go to the Shack, then to Madtown. While discussing plans, Otto and Twister exchanged knowing looks and made a woogie, and this drew attention of the others.

 _What are these two up to?_

At the Shack, they met Sherry and Eddie, and those two decided to join the others; so then the big teen gang went to the park. Very soon it became clear for everyone what Otto and Twister had called "a different way"…

"Isn't that your new longboard?" Reggie gave Otto a puzzled look.

Only Sherry and Otto were on roller skates, while the rest of the gang were on skateboards. The rest of the gang, and Twister, too.

"Well yeah," Otto shrugged, helping Twister to get on the board. "Twister's keeping it for now."

"But how do you-"

Hardly had Reggie finished her question, when the two took their arms, pushed on the ground and skated away. Then Reggie smiled and added, "Oh, I see."

Trish nudged Sherry and asked, "Hey, would you do the same for me?"

"You bet, girlfriend!" Sherry chuckled and put her arm around Trish's shoulders.

Trying to be posh, Eddie waved his black goth cape and commanded, "Follow the Prince of the Netherworld!"

With this, he rolled on his skateboard and led the gang, but Reggie and Sam went ahead of him very soon with a laugh.

* * *

One fine day, Twister woke up to look at the calendar and realize that those three terrible weeks were, at last, over. This thought had him jump up on the bed; a moment later he realized he was actually able to jump and got even happier. He ran out of the room, then went downstairs to inform his parents. For the last few days he was dying to have his cast taken off because his leg began itching like hell, and this finally happened. However, when his leg was released from this prison, he shot a farewell look to the cast covered with drawings and wondered: were those three weeks actually "terrible"?

 _"Let me sign it here?" Otto_ _suggested,_ _aiming_ _his_ _pen_ _at Twister'_ _s_ _leg._

 _"_ _Sure!_ _Can I sign your leg then?" Twister asked, looking innocent._

 _Otto got bashful for some reason. "But I don't have a cast... but if you want to..."_

Twister slowly ran his hand over Otto's sprawling signature. In fact, those three weeks passed by faster than he had expected, and he spent all that time having fun with his friends, like he always did, and was even able to skate, thanks to Otto. Otto was always there for Twister, so the three terrible weeks turned into the three... _wonderful_ weeks. Twister again recalled that evening...

 _"I will respect my bro, always and forever."_

It seemed so weird that Otto was sincere and serious in his words and didn't even need to be forced by Reggie or Sam. Moreover, his words did match his deeds. Of course, Twister had always thought that Otto was good deep at heart but covered it with arrogance and cockiness; however, he still couldn't believe what was happening.

"But isn't that what best friends are for?" Twister thought out loud, when he went outside, holding his skateboard in his hands.

"For what?"

Twister near jumped out of his skin when he heard Otto's voice from afar.

Slowing down his skateboard, Otto rolled to Twister and slapped him on the back with a laugh, "Let's go now, or we're gonna be late for our classes."

"Yeah, let's move," Twister grinned, as he got on his board. Like always, he and Otto took each other's hands and...

"Sorry, I forgot that-" they both exclaimed as they sprang back from each other.

The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds, then laughed awkwardly and skated off. _Despite all the stereotypes about autumn, this season was only the beginning._


	2. Winter

In Ocean Shores, winter was only present in the calendar. That's why people, who were not satisfied with that, traveled for winter in other places. The Rockets wouldn't be an exception: they went to the ski resort, taking Twister and Sam along, as always, and Clio, with whom Reggie tied a strong friendship in recent years. While Raymundo with Noelani and Tito were settling down, the teens had fun outdoors, performing wonders of snowboarding in front of each other. After a startling and elegant downhill, Clio took off her helmet and shook her head. Since some time, she wore her hair short, just like Reggie did. Stepping to the road-side, she waited for the other guys, and those arrived very soon, raving about the downhill.

Reggie skated up to her, saying, "How is it going, sis?"

"There's still no way I'm trading my ice skates for it," Clio smiled.

Reggie chuckled. "It's just you haven't tried skiboards yet!"

Clio looked at her with interest and said, "That's true. Maybe you could show me some moves?"

"Sure I can!" Reggie perked up and ran off together with Clio.

Watching it, Otto could only shrug his shoulders. "Those besties!"

"Yeah, now they're just like you and Twister," Sam replied with a smile.

Twister approved, nodding his head with vigor, "Right, right!"

Then he patted Otto's head, smirking. Otto, in his turn, felt embarrassed yet again because of Twister being a few inches taller than him, and gave him a dirty look. Seeing such reaction, Twister stepped back and smiled as if to apologize.

"They bailed on us, but we'll keep on skating, won't we?" Otto asked.

Right away, Twister replied to him in a chipper voice, "I'm down for it!"

Well, Otto never doubted him anyway. But Sam started thinking out loud, like he always did.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind a cup of hot coffee now. Besides, it's almost lunch..."

Both Twister and Otto made a face, then chorused, "Oh, puh-lease!"

"But guys!" Sam protested. "Like you don't feel hungry!"

"You're only happy when you're eating, Squid!" Otto twitted him.

Twister echoed, "Yeah, listen to my man Otto!"

Then he thought for a while and added, "But I actually didn't eat since this morning, so..."

"Oh, Twist..." Otto drawled, disappointed, looking at him either sadly, or with reproach.

Twister hurried to clarify, "It doesn't mean I'm bailing, Ottoman!"

Watching this scene, Sam ended up saying with a sigh, "Okay. I guess we can skate a bit more."

"Yes!" Otto and Twister exclaimed together. All of them stretched their hands forward to make a woogie.

* * *

Meanwhile, Reggie and Clio were in the forest nearby the cabins. Reggie was teaching Clio to stand and move on skiboards. Since Clio excelled at figure skating and skiing, she didn't have much trouble with that.

"How come I've never thought of such sweet things?" Clio was stoked. She skated skillfully along the fallen tree, covered with snow, and jumped off it.

"Maybe you had no occasion for it?" Reggie shrugged, as she jumped off the tree, too. Clio looked at her and giggled, her hand covering her mouth.

"What is it?" Reg inquired, somewhat irritated.

"I just remembered," Clio said, "how we used to fight all the time in the past. Now those beefs seem so ridiculous."

"What can I say, times are changing, and I'm glad about it." Reggie smiled. "By the way, remember I told you about Breeze?"

Clio nodded, and Reggie went on, "She emailed me recently and asked to post her article on my site. But I don't know... I need fresh eyes on it, and you're a good critic."

"I got it, sis," Clio winked at her, "but first let's skate somewhere else."

The girls were about to leave, but all of a sudden Clio slipped and nearly fell down; she was lucky enough to have Reg quickly reacting and catching her. Thus, Clio ended up lying in her arms. Realizing that, Reg laughed, bashful, and looked away.

"Be careful," she said.

"Sorry," Clio chuckled and released herself from the embrace. Then she and Reg skated off the forest.

* * *

 _A few hours later..._

Otto and Twister fell in the snow near each other and exchanged glances, smiling.

"That was sick," Otto said, as he saw his breath come out of his mouth.

"Totally agree." Twister stretched his arms and asked, looking at the sky, "What about you, Sammy?"

Nobody answered. Otto sat up to look around and saw that Sam wasn't there.

"Maybe he couldn't catch up with us. We've got pretty far." Otto shrugged. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

Twister sat up, too, and moved closer to Otto. There blew a cold wind, and Otto cringed.

"My ears!" he complained, pulling his hat down vigorously, but it couldn't fully protect him anyway. And the wind, as luck would have it, was only becoming more intense; a few minutes later, the boys could hear their teeth chattering.

"Dude, I'm not quite sure about Sam..." Twister said. "We should go look for him."

"Better than sitting around and freezing." Otto agreed.

So they went to scout out the area: they looked at the forest from high up, then searched on every side of the slope and behind every tree and rock nearby... but they never met Sam. The boys exchanged confused looks.

And then it hit Twister, "Wait, why not just give him a call!"

"Go ahead." Otto nodded, and Twister took his Sony Ericsson out of his pocket to call Sam. They heard line ringing and both leaned their ears towards the phone. However, after a long wait, there was no response. Sam wouldn't answer his phone at the second, third, fourth, even the fifth try.

"Oh, no!" Twister cried in despair. "We lost Sammy!"

"Oh, come on, Twist!" Otto sniffed and went on, "Sammy is already a big boy," at this point Twister chortled, "can't he make his way home alone? He probably returned earlier than us."

"Maybe, but, you know, things happen..." Twister lowered his head and bit his lips.

Watching him, Otto noticed that even though Twist was really tall, nearly turning from a gawky teen into a fine young man, he would still act somehow naïve. And Otto _liked_ this innocence just because it was so Twister-ish. Thinking about it, he smiled and came closer to Twister.

"Twist," Otto put his hands on Twister's shoulders, "I'm really sure Sam is okay. Besides, we're not in the wild. So let's get home before dark."

Hardly had Twister replied to him, when another blast of wind messed up the snow, making Otto screw his eyes up. But no sooner had he blocked his ears, vulnerable to the frost, than he suddenly felt something warm and soft cover them up and opened his eyes in wonder.

"I kind of protected you," Twister chuckled and put his hands off Otto's ears.

Otto blinked in a daze and replied, "Well, kind of thanks..."

"We must hurry!" Twister got worried. "The wind's gonna cover our tracks, and we won't find the way!"

"Now you're talking." Otto nodded, still confused about what had just happened.

* * *

Meanwhile, just like Otto had thought, Sam was home, warm and comfy. He preferred not to follow his friends as the slope seemed to be too extreme; of course, he tried to explain it to his friends, but they didn't hear and wouldn't listen. That's why Sammy went home alone, without waiting for them to come back to the top; yes, he did feel guilty about it, but he felt hungry more than guilty, so...

"Oh yeah, go to Uncle Sam!" he whispered slyly, as he pulled a bag of chocolate cookies out of the cupboard. Then he poured them into a soup plate, made some finger sandwiches and a cup of latte, put it all on the table in the living room and, with a contented look, made himself snug under the blanket to turn the TV on.

Tito, who caught him at this, asked with a smile, "I see you're enjoying the vacation?"

The completely relaxed Sam nodded, putting the whole sandwich in his mouth.

"Where are the others?"

Sam had to chew faster to answer, "Reggie and Clio have just returned, but Otto and Twister never showed. They must have skated really far."

"Interesting..." Tito scratched his chin with a thoughtful expression. "Well, they're now big cuzzes, no need to worry."

"Yep." Sam simply put, as he lost himself in the TV.

Tito shrugged and was just about to leave but suddenly remembered, "By the way... I think I heard some phone ringing in your room. Wouldn't happen to be yours?"

Sam jumped to his feet. "Yes, it would!"

With this, he dashed off to the room, where nobody was present at the moment, and found his cell phone buried in his clothes. As soon as he saw Twister had called him up multiple times, he started calling back. But the answer he got was only the fatal words, _"The subscriber is not available now. Please, call back later."_ The further calls had no other effect.

"Oh, no!" he cried, terrified, embracing his knees, and began repeating, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what do I do, what do I-"

"Sammy, what's going on?"

Sam turned around and saw Reggie in the doorway, wearing a big checkered bathrobe and a towel on her head.

"Twister called me about five times an hour ago, but I didn't hear and didn't answer. Now I'm calling him back, and his phone's off!"

Sam's eyes were wide with fright when he said that.

Reggie replied lazily, yawning, "Maybe it's just his battery's out."

Sam scratched his head over the suggestion and settled down very soon.

"Oh, yes... exactly..."

Reggie entered the room, taking the towel off her head, and Sam got a hint that she needed to change, so he headed back to the living room. Moreover, his favorite show was on the TV right now, and he certainly couldn't miss it. Otto and Twister had to get home anyway, sooner or later (but more likely later).

* * *

The further the boys went uphill, the harsher became the wind, and the more stops they had to make. Exhausted enough by skating, they had now to go uphill so long.

"Duuuuude, why was it so fast when we went down the slope and is so long now when we're going back?" Twister asked, puzzled, as he gripped his cap so it wouldn't fly off his head.

"Because, Twist, when we went down, we were on our boards, and now we're hiking!" Otto explained, trying to shout down the wind.

This was followed by a rather emotional question, "Why won't we just snowboard to the top, if that's faster?!"

"Twist..." Otto rolled his eyes. "I just won't say anything."

Twister stared at him in confusion for a while. Then it hit him, and he slapped himself on the forehead, saying, "Ohhh, right!"

Their feet barely moving, sinking in the snow, they sorely wanted to drop the snowboards to make it a bit easier; meanwhile, the daylight faded, and this didn't make them happy either. The boys made yet another stop to catch their breath and looked down. Behind them was only the half of their way; realizing that, Otto and Twister groaned, as they dropped their boards and sat down on some rock nearby. While they were sitting, huddled together, trying to hide from the wind with their arms, Otto came up with an idea that was articulated right away.

"Let's call Ray to get us out of here!"

"But where is this 'here'?" Twister asked.

"Well, um..."

That was a good question. Confused, Otto looked around and thought: how would they explain their location? This mountain wasn't exactly the one where everybody would skate — in fact, it was off-limits. There were plenty of the same easy-to-confuse mountains, and it wasn't quite clear where Raymundo should drive up.

Eventually, Otto gave up thinking and said, "Just call him. We'll figure it out!"

Twister pulled his phone out of the pocket and stared at the screen.

"What's up?" Otto looked at the screen, too, and... didn't see anything.

"Man, it must have run out of energy…" Twister sighed, disappointed, and hung his hand down.

The irritated Otto wrested the phone out of his hand and attempted to turn it on, but the device wouldn't react.

"Damn it!" he snapped and gave the phone back to Twister; he wished he had brought his own phone.

"Hey, don't freak, we'll get there on foot!" Twister tried to reassure Otto. "That's how we planned it anyway."

"I wouldn't know..." Otto replied, uncertain, while he grabbed his snowboard. "I don't clearly remember our way, so we'll surely have to grope in the dark."

All of a sudden, Twister said slowly, "I'm not quite sure, but I might have a map here..."

"No way!" Otto let out a whistle of amazement. "A phone, a map — what else have you got in your pockets?"

In that instant, Twister started delving into the numerous big and small pockets he had on his coat and taking out different stuff.

"Oh, look at this quarter! And this is a wrapper of my favorite candy! And here's a jewelry store flyer! Wow, the last year's gum! And this is my lucky sock!"

"Your lucky sock?!" Otto snickered. Twister hissed at him and continued his searching. Finally, he pulled out a bright booklet.

"No way! I thought I'd lost it!" Twister said, excited: that was a signed booklet of another album by Shaffika. Then he opened it and took out of there another booklet. "And there is the map!"

Otto took the map and asked in a seemingly casual manner, "Do you know about her upcoming concert in March?"

"Of course I know!" Twister exclaimed. "I've almost saved enough money to buy a ticket..."

"Don't buy anything!" Otto exclaimed, frightened, and quickly clapped his hand over his mouth.

"What do you mean?!" Twister said indignantly. Otto sighed, silently scolding himself: now that he mentioned it, he had to put his cards on the table.

"It's just... your birthday's coming up, so I've already taken care of the gift!" Otto blurted out and fell silent, shyly shuffling his feet.

Twister blinked, digesting what he had just heard, and then a huge smile spread across his face.

"Are you serious?!" he cried, excited. "Did you... did you... you... did..."

It seemed to have left Twister speechlessly amazed, so Otto had to find the strength to say, "Yes, I bought you a ticket for the con-"

But before he knew it, he was squeezed in Twister's tight grip and nearly lost his balance because of Twister jumping on him like that. Otto was about to snap at him, but Twister said, "Thank you, Otto! You're the best."

So sincere and tender were these words that all Otto's irritation vanished as if by magic. A silent smile on his face, he hugged Twister and patted him on the back. They might have stayed in each other's warm arms a bit too long. In fact... neither of them was against it. When they finally let each other go, they moved on in a way more chipper manner, as if they had taken some mysterious force from each other, and got to the top even faster than they had expected. As it was getting darker, the merciless wind gradually ceased and didn't bother them anymore.

* * *

When the whole family was long since finishing the dinner and dispersed over the house, the front door burst open, and Otto along with Twister tumbled in.

Twister shut the door, while Otto, catching sight of his parents in front of the TV, breathed out with a final effort, "Mom, Dad, sorry that we worried you, we didn't expect it to be so long..."

Slightly puzzled, Raymundo and Noelani looked at their son.

"Why? What time is it?" Raymundo glanced at his watch and scratched his head. "Oh... I didn't really notice."

"Are you telling me you didn't even lose us?!" Otto exclaimed in utter disbelief.

Noelani shrugged and replied, "I barely started to worry. We had so much to do here that the only thing we lost was track of time."

"But... we thought Raymundo would be freaked..." Twister gave Raymundo a puzzled look; the latter exchanged glances with his wife, and they both burst out laughing.

"Not at all," Ray replied, "you're not little kids anymore. You better go and get warm, you've got frost on your noses."

"Okay." Otto and Twister sighed in relief, taking off their coats and hats, and shuffled to their room.

When they came in, Clio raised herself on the bed and addressed Reggie with a chuckle, "Look who's back!"

Reggie, who was sitting next to Clio with her laptop, lifted her head to ask, "Where have you been?"

"Ohhh..." Otto and Twister groaned; they were limp with fatigue. They couldn't even get to the bed, so they simply sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"Where's Squid?" Otto mumbled. Reggie and Clio exchanged glances and both pointed at the top shelf covered with curtains.

Otto was about to stand up, but he obviously hadn't the strength for it, so he could only say in a loud voice, "How could you ditch us like this, Squid!"

The curtains opened slightly, and there Sam's face was revealed.

"What did I do?" he simply asked. "I told you that I wouldn't go, but you didn't listen-"

"I don't know any of that!" Otto cut him off, exhausted, and sank his head onto Twister's lap.

"Yeah, you didn't tell us nothing!" Twister echoed indignantly, running his fingers through the auburn red hair.

He kept on stroking Otto's head for some time, while the latter, initially lying there with a weary face, closed his eyes and relaxed into a smile in the process. Watching the scene, Sam and the girls started giggling in unison, and at first Otto and Twister didn't even realize what the matter was. And when it hit them, they sprang back from each other right away.

Twister quickly changed the subject by asking, "Is there anything to eat for us?"

Sam perked up and leapt off the bed, replying, "Especially for you — and for me — I've kept some sandwiches! Now come with me, gentlemen!"

Then he headed to the kitchen with a swagger. It took Twister and Otto a while to scrape themselves off the floor and follow him. Reggie and Clio were left in private again; they kept silent for a while, both busy with their stuff — Reggie was editing some articles for her site, and Clio was reading a book. But then the silence was broken by Clio's soft voice.

"Say that it was sweet."

"What?" Reggie asked. Clio sat on the bed and moved closer to Reggie to pat her head, smiling mischievously.

"Ahh, I see!" Reggie laughed and caught Clio's hand in air, as their sparkling eyes met. So Reggie asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"To be honest, I've been thinking of that sweet show about the two brothers hunting demons that we started watching recently..." Clio chortled, covering her mouth.

"Exactly!" Reggie cheered.

She let go of Clio and turned back to her laptop; one minute later, they were already staring at the screen, while cuddling up together. _After all, everybody longs for warmth in winter._


	3. Spring

That day, Otto and Twister were sitting at the Shack.

"I can't bear it! Let's tell Reggie and Sam at least."

"No, no, no! No way!"

 _Spring was the time for a great change._ Otto was quick to confess: as soon as he stopped fighting himself and embraced his true feelings — it was indeed hard — he told Twister about that. Now he wanted to come out. Yes, he would often lie and conceal something from others, but he was sure bad at this; he preferred to be honest at least in his feelings.

"Why not?!" Otto snapped.

In response to this, Twister could only avert his gaze, silent, thus causing Otto to roll his eyes with a groan. Twister, on the contrary, found it easier to admit his feelings than to tell about them, so he kept silent to the last. Glancing at Ray and Tito, who were busy with customers, Otto dropped his voice as not to draw their attention.

"One day they'll know... we'd better come out on our own."

"But not now, dude." Twister shook his head.

"You mean never." Otto frowned, offended.

The apologetic Twister put his hand under the table and there found Otto's hand.

"I just... don't know... we just..." he started clearing himself, but Otto stopped him by a gesture, while squeezing his hand and feeling unusual warmth he couldn't get used to.

It felt really strange to see the all too familiar details in a new light and put such a high value on them. Both Otto and Twister were drawn to the new sensations, but they couldn't stay alone with each other without raising suspicion.

"Okay, Twist, I got it. You need time to think, to get used and all. So do I." Otto smiled peacefully, then added as quiet as possible, "Besides, I know a chill place where nobody can see us..."

"Where is it?" Twister perked up.

"I'll show you..." Otto said in a conspiratorial voice and took a gulp from his glass. "We can go there right now."

"Let's go, then!" Twister simply put, dragging Otto, but he withdrew his hand from his.

"Wait, we can't go at the same time — they're gonna see us leave together," he said quickly.

"See, you're also afraid of coming out!" Twister said in an injured voice.

"Hey, it's all because of you!"

"Hey, guys!"

The sound of a familiar voice made Otto and Twister turn round.

"There you are, missing the swell!" Reggie said in a chipper voice, her arms around her board.

"Join us!" Sam said, coming up to the table with Reggie.

Otto and Twister shared a stealthy glance, and Twister said, "I can't. Gotta go right now. I failed my test on math and I'm forced to prepare for it again."

With this, he quickly headed to the exit and got on his bike. Reggie shrugged and turned to Otto.

"What about you, Rocket Boy?"

"Um... just let me finish my homework, and maybe I'll join you!" Otto quickly cooked up with a crooked smile.

"Seriously?!" Reggie and Sam exclaimed in utter disbelief. Reggie asked, "Otto, what's up with you?"

"According to all the information I have, choosing studying instead of surfing is completely out of your character!" Sam added.

Otto countered, "Why do you think I can't be responsible?!"

"Because you've never been?" Reg raised her eyebrow incredulously.

"Reggie!" Raymundo interjected when he heard them talking. "Give your brother a chance! I'm glad that my son finally learned how to prioritize."

"Thanks, Dad." Otto gave Ray a grateful smile.

"Fine." Reggie gave in, however, still looking suspiciously at her brother. "Sammy, let's get going. Maybe we can surf with Trish."

When they left, Otto sighed in relief and rode his bike. But when he reached the cul-de-sac, he turned to the other house. He wouldn't dream of ringing the doorbell — he went instantly under Twister's window. As Twister heard something knocking, he jumped to his feet.

"Hey, you're gonna break it again!" he cried, as he opened the window.

"These stones are smaller!" Otto reassured him, standing down there. "Hurry up!"

"I'm going! But I have to sneak past my parents again."

"Again?"

"I did fail the test." Twister closed the window with an apologetic smile; Otto could only grin at the simplicity he loved so much about him.

After a few minutes, Twister came to him with his bike, very cautious, looking round and pulling his camera bag up to the shoulder.

"Nearly got caught," he sighed. "Now if only nobody would come into my room..."

"We'll take that bridge when we come to it," Otto replied lightly, and they rode off.

* * *

"Seriously, how far is it?" Twister got impatient by the time he and Otto seemed to have ridden all the backstreets in the town but weren't getting any closer to their final destination.

Otto replied in a chipper voice, "Two blocks uphill!"

This made Twister buck up; with a final effort, he picked up the speed. Otto dashed after him. They stopped when they got to an old private house upon a hill, completely secluded from other houses; next to it was nothing but a forest.

"So you brought me to an abandoned place?" Twister asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah," Otto said slowly.

He left his bike near the porch and opened the ramshackle, creaking door; it revealed a rash of other doors and turns and many holes in the walls, the sunlight coming through them.

"It's sure romantic..." Twister commented apprehensively, following Otto, as he came in.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to hide because you're too afraid?" smirking, Otto elbowed Twister, and the latter rolled his eyes.

"Busted."

"I'm telling you, it's cool here!" Otto pulled Twister towards himself, his arm around his waist, and pointed at everything around with his free hand, while gabbling, "I'm not really into such places, there's usually nothing but old junk, but here... look at these corridors, we could play paintball here... and what a view from upstairs!"

Twister snuggled up to Otto, laying his head on his shoulder, and asked, fascinated, "So we can see the town?"

"Nah! Think, how can you see the town from the second floor?" Otto laughed kindly.

"Then what can I see?" Twister was puzzled.

"Come with me!" Otto dashed to the stairs.

Twister shrugged and followed him, turning on his camera. In the lens were caught the torn off wallpapers, the dusty floor, piled with little brick remnants, the old furniture, and, finally, the waiting Otto at the flight of stairs. Filming the stair railing all covered with cobwebs, Twister went up to him, and Otto dragged him by the hand upstairs.

"What's up with the roof?! Well, um... a half of the roof? Anyway..." stunned, Twister stared upwards, directing his camera there as well: above him, in all its glory, spread the lucid daylight blue.

"It must've fallen. Just like us." Otto chuckled.

"So, where's the view?" Twister scratched his head.

Otto came up to the window and waved at Twister, "Here!"

Twister stood near him; through a frame without glass he saw a plenty of mountains covered with deep green woodland.

"We were there!" he spoke in a happy voice, pointing at one of those seemingly identical mountains, while filming them. "Five years ago, when Lars and his friends challenged us, remember?"

"Yeah," Otto closed his eyes in nostalgia. "What a race it was."

"Maaaaan!" Twister groaned. He turned his camera off to save the energy, put it into the bag and added, "Sometimes I even miss..."

"...your dear elder brother, who ran away from you to college?" Otto giggled, but the joke flowed over Twister.

"I miss how it used to be," he sighed and leaned his head against the frame, his elbows on the windowsill. "Things are really different now..."

"Well, 'different' doesn't mean 'bad'!" Otto tried to cheer him up. Twister felt his arms gently curling around him, turned and hugged Otto back.

"You're right," he said, as he buried his head into Otto's neck.

Twister still wore his old striped kangol — this thing about him remained unchanged. Perhaps, he was afraid of change and so he never parted with the cap for his desire to have at least a scintilla of stability in this ever-changing world. Perhaps, that was the reason he shuddered, when Otto took the cap off his head with a gentle hand, so the latter soothed him by caressing his hair. Twister squeezed him tighter. So they stood there, listening to the silence, feeling the heat of their bodies, leaving in their minds no room for anything but the present moment.

"Twist?" Otto whispered.

"Yeah?"

"That's so cool."

"What?"

"Loving you."

Twister reared his head and met the green sparkling eyes. He gently took Otto's sunglasses and laid them on the windowsill.

"Can you see me?" he asked.

"Oh no, too far," Otto lied. A playful smile on his face, he got closer to Twister to make their noses meet and said, "But now I can see perfectly."

Then their lips met, too. That was only their second kiss: more conscious, sensual, and real, without frantic haste and fear of being rejected, in contrast to the first one. Now they could afford dissolving in their touch, could feel and seize every little detail, and let go of each other with the only purpose of repeating it, exchanging knowing looks and smiles. After that, they sat down right on the floor, still holding each other, and Twister glanced up at the clouds, which were crawling along the sky so slow that the time seemed to slow down, too. And this feeling was even more fueled by Otto's relaxed breathing that caused his chest to be rising under Twister's palm. Since it wasn't so, Twister soon felt the tickling, warm whisper near his ear.

"If you don't want us to be caught together, we better get home in an hour."

"Okay," Twister nodded and even as he touched Otto's face, the latter laid his hand on Twister's and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel.

"Still don't want to come out?" Otto asked softly.

"Don't want to lose this moment," Twister replied and leaned a little down to give him a kiss on the forehead.

Amazed, Otto smiled at how exact was the reply — not the kind of thing you would normally expect to hear from Twister. _"Why does nobody listen to me?"_ he once asked in despair, and Otto replied with a rhetorical question, _"Because you're never right?"_ Defeated, Twister could only sigh. But that was an awful long time ago, and Otto had since seen enough evidence of what a stupid fallacy it was. Otto laid his palm on Twister's chest right where his heart was beating. Twister did the same to him.

"I love you, Ottoman."

"I love you too, Twist."

* * *

"Otto, can I ask you a favor?"

"What?"

"Let's keep this place only for us?"

"We'll have it until it's demolished. Better find something more lasting."

Ahead of them were already seen their houses, so Otto and Twister slowed down, afraid of meeting their parents or friends. Until now, they were riding as fast as they could, for they delayed at exploring the ruins and lonely surroundings. After a while, Twister stopped to catch his breath; Otto stopped next to him.

"Nobody's here, I think," Otto said, peering into the distance. Suddenly, he turned to Twister. "Give me your hand."

"Huh?" he replied, confused, even as he let his limp hand hang down, but Otto grabbed it to entwine their fingers.

For a while, they were silently looking both at each other and at the cul-de-sac, then shared a quick, secret kiss, and Twister went home first. Otto waited a few minutes and left, too.

Twister stood in front of the door, undecided. He looked in the window, but it was covered with curtains, so he couldn't see anything. He took a deep breath and turned the handle as careful as he could, then snuck in.

Scarcely had he closed the door, when he heard his mother's loud voice from the kitchen, "Mauriiiiice!"

Frightened, Twister freezed in the hallway dark; his heart near jumped out of his chest because of that shout. However, the next what he heard was, "Come down for dinner! You've been up there too long!"

Twister sighed in relief, though still silent, and tiptoed to the steps to jump on them a few times, as if he were running downstairs.

After that, he entered the kitchen, greeting, "Hi, Mom."

"So how's your preparation?" Sandy asked; she and Raoul were already sitting at the table.

Twister took his seat and replied, trying not to look at them, "It's just fine..."

"I see you've been studying hard all day long and now need a rest," Raoul said with approval.

"Sure I need!" Twister nodded with vigor and started eating.

"Well, you tell us what you've learned, then do anything you want," the mother said.

Twister near choked and had to plaster on a smile.

"Sure, Mom."

In the meantime, Otto got home, too. He, on the contrary, could see through the window that his parents weren't home yet, so he boldly came in. But this was a rash decision, because...

"Hi, Reggie!" he cried, as he ran into his sister right at the door.

She frowned grimly and asked, "So, where have you been?"

"I was... in the garage... cleaning up..." Otto giggled nervously.

"I've just been there." Reggie cut. "I came home an hour and a half ago, you weren't here."

"Maybe it's just you-"

"Otto."

"Fine," Otto sighed, defeated, "I just wanted to skate around town."

"Alone?" Reggie squinted at him.

"Yes."

"Why so?" she tilted her head.

"I just felt like it, you know, sometimes I need..." Otto tried to act distant, hoping that Reggie wouldn't ask further, but then he noticed that she was holding a new longboard that definitely wasn't hers; a familiar logo was perfectly seen on it.

"Hey, it's from Raymundo's shop!" he pointed at the board, and Reggie winced, hissing at him.

"Quiet! Yes, it is."

"Did you take it without asking?" Otto asked slyly, and Reggie let out a heavy sigh.

"Yes. But if no one knows, then nothing happened. Not a word to Raymundo. I won't tell him about your sneaking, for that matter."

With this, she left.

"All right, sis." Satisfied, Otto closed the door after her.


	4. Summer

Twister scored a goal after goal. A jerk of the hockey stick, and the puck went into the empty goal. After this puck went the next, and the next, and the next. Twister didn't count them. He didn't even look; he only heard the clang and kept on mechanically skating around and scoring goals.

The time of Otto's absence was now measured in weeks. Otto was constantly either working, or training with the school hockey team, who chose him to play for them in a major competition in another state, so plans always got ruined. Things had already been hard because of the secret nature of their relationship, and now they were...

"Lame." Twister muttered, dropping his hockey stick, and wandered home.

 _The early summer was lame and didn't seem to get better soon._ He went upstairs, locked in his room, took his phone and headphones and fell onto the bed. He stared at the ceiling — that could be the sky; he was all alone — could be holding hands with Otto; he was lying there, feeling down and exhausted — could be tearing waves and ramps. But everything lost its taste, when the precious auburn red hair got out of sight. Twister could not even listen to at least one song up to the end. He was constantly changing them with irritation: _come on, something had to help him right now!_

Finally, he gave up and put his music on shuffle, letting surf rock mix with punk, hip-hop, and indie. His intrusive thoughts wouldn't let the songs pass anyway. Sure enough, he was upset. Terribly upset! Why couldn't Otto spend with him at least an hour or so? Why did they meet each other only during the gang hangouts, which became seldom as well, and Twister's visits to the Shack (but then Otto would shoot off because of another order or delivery)? Yes, Otto had previously told that he would be really busy, but...

 _Why was it so hard?_

Twister closed his eyes and hugged himself — who else could do that now. He looked back at his usual weekdays in the last couple of months:

The school hallway, the noise, the people, people around, people in front of and behind him, people everywhere — they go and wander, they run and hustle, they chitchat — and there's a familiar hand that drags him away. The two hide in the dark under the stairs; desperate, their fingers entwine, cling, squeeze, so tight, so tight... the touch makes the hearts pound and the legs shake, their lips meet, frantic, quick, quick, so nobody would see. Before they know it, they have to run from each other, to find themselves amidst the people in the noisy hallway, to walk, to run, to talk...

 _"Hi, Reggie! You up for the lunch?"_

 _"So, how is your test, Sammy?"_

 _"Eddie's got a new face paint again! That's crazy."_

 _"Hey, Conro- I mean, good afternoon, Mr. Blank."_

And stuff like that. But one day, a new line was added by Otto to those usual talks.

 _"I'm training late today, so don't wait for me."_

The truth was that Twister could not stop waiting. He missed him so bad that it hurt. Suddenly, the music stopped playing, and the phone vibrated: Sam was calling.

"Yeah?" Twist replied drowsily.

"Hi, Twist, are you going to Madtown today?"

"Is Otto going?"

"No, I've already called him."

Twister kept silent for a while, then answered, "I'm not going."

And he hung. Again, he lay there, spread-eagling on his bed, but just in a few minutes somebody knocked. When he opened the door, there was Sam.

"Sam, I told you!" Twister snapped.

But Sam replied friendly, "Come on, you really need to catch some air!"

He handed Twister a skateboard and gave a kindly smile, looking expectantly at him. Twister sighed heavily in response; hesitating, he accepted the board and left the house with Sam. Sam felt glad because, otherwise, he wouldn't have anybody to hang out with, for Reggie was always somewhere else with her female friends and Otto was... not there. However, his gladness couldn't last long: while he was grinding the rails, skating the bowl and even getting much air on the half-pipe, Twister sadly trailed behind him, not even trying to compete.

Eventually, when Twister stopped in the middle of the pipe and near fell off his board, Sam came down to him, saying, "What's up, Twist? I can tell something's wrong with you!"

"Oh, nothing serious," Twister sighed, but his mournful look said the opposite. He stepped off the ramp and skated slowly towards little stairs; Sam followed him. Together they sat down on the steps and kept silent for a while; Twister wasn't even looking at Sam. A bit hesitating, the latter went for a question.

"Is it somehow related to Otto?"

Hearing _his name,_ Twister shivered inwardly; in that instant, he felt as if his heart were gripped by a phantom hand. He put a great effort to nod his head, without a word.

Sam gently put his hand on his shoulder and asked more, "Would you like to see him, or you'd rather not?"

Twister gulped, silent. He had no idea what to say. He wanted to see Otto, madly wanted, but apart from the others. Even if Sam looked so perceptive, Twister wasn't quite sure if he could reveal him the secret of his relationship with Otto. He also wasn't sure if Otto needed him that bad, because, driven by his ambition, he just left Twister all alone and would only phone him in the evenings to chat about his upcoming trip and to complain how tired of his work he was. It seemed like Twister needed to forget about Otto for a while and just do his thing.

Anyway... anyway, Twister said, "I feel like grabbing some pizza with grapes. Let's head over the Shack?"

"You have a great taste in food!" Sam said with approval, and they skated off, chasing each other.

However, Otto wasn't at the Shack on their arrival; no matter how hard Twister would peer into people at the tables, he could not spot his boyfriend. Tito brought the guys their desired pizza; watching them devouring it, he couldn't but comment on this.

"It seems like you cuzzes are so exhausted you can't even sense the taste of food."

"What are you talking about, Tito?!" they both cried in unison, lifting their heads off the plate.

Sam added, "It's exactly the divine taste that made us order this pizza."

Stunned, Tito stared at them but didn't say anything.

A bit later there came Ray; he noted with satisfaction, "See, Tito, the guys like my special recipe!"

"That's because they haven't tried my pizza with coconut custard yet!" Tito countered, then turned to Sam and Twister, "By the way, you want to taste?"

The boys shook their heads vigorously in response, and Raymundo slapped Tito on the back with a laugh; the latter glared at him and folded his arms.

Having chewed the last piece, Twister turned his gaze towards Ray and called him shyly, "Raymundo... I have a favor to ask."

Raymundo gave him an expectant look, as he leaned against the bar.

"Go ahead, Twister."

"Could you... could you arrange a day off for Otto? I never… I mean, _we_ never see him!"

"But you guys meet every day when you come here," Ray said incredulously.

"Yes, but..." Twister stuttered. He didn't know how to contradict him. There joined Sam.

"In contrast to how it used to be, we spend disastrously short time together. Otto is constantly either working, or training. We're worried that we may lose contact with our best friend."

Twister silently thanked him for these words — he would not phrase it so well. Raymundo started to think, and a little hope sprang within Twister. But Ray's answer disappointed him.

"There's no need to worry about Otto — he doesn't forget you. He's just all over the competition and focuses his energy on it. Well, you know him. Yes, I could as well just give him the money for the trip when he asked, but I want him to earn it by honest work, to know the worth of money. And I'm glad that my son understands me and is working hard for his dream."

"Speaking of the devil," Tito noted. Twister and Sam turned their heads at the same time and saw Otto swiftly skating to them. Swiftly as well, he stopped, sprang up to the bar and threw the cash on it. Raymundo began counting the money, while Otto, panting, greeted his friends.

"Hi, Sammy. Hi, Twist."

"Hi..." Twister replied sadly. Otto met Twister's gaze; his face seemed to have showed some kind of understanding. He was just about to say something, but there came Raymundo.

"Great! Now I need your help in the kitchen."

"I'm coming!" Otto responded readily and followed Ray without even a backward glance.

Twister slapped himself on the forehead and told Sam, "Sorry, gotta go."

"But Twister!" Sam tried to protest; however, Twister had already got on his board, then skated off. Sam sighed with a sad face and laid his head on the bar.

Seeing this, Tito showed his compassion, "Looks like there is a storm in Twister's heart he keeps silent about."

"I guess so..." Sam replied wistfully. He sat straight again and went on, "You know, Tito, I'm now getting the feeling that everybody's got something going on in their life, and I'm in the dark on this. As if our gang were not so close the way it used to be, and the guys hid something from me, didn't trust me and each other..."

Sam fell silent for a few seconds. Then he asked in a quiet voice, "Tell me, is there any Ancient Hawaiian saying that would fix things by miracle?"

Tito gave him a kindly smile.

"My young friend," he started, "The Ancient Hawaiians had indeed a lot of wise sayings, but they didn't describe all the hardships of life in metaphorical language. And, unfortunately, just a saying itself won't help."

Hearing that, Sam got even more upset — that wasn't the kind of answer he expected. A thought crossed his mind that even Tito, the self-designed philosopher, was no longer what he used to be.

In that instant, Tito added, "Though I could still remind you of one simple fact."

"What fact?" Sam gave him an expectant look.

"After the storm, there is always the calm. And the weather is bound to get better."

Tito gave Sam a conspiratorial wink, and the latter, thinking about what had been said, smiled.

"Thanks, Tito," he said in a more optimistic manner. "I hope it is really so."

* * *

Twister was woken up by a phone call. Half-awake and half-asleep, he looked at the screen, saw the name, and it took his breath away for a second; in that instant, his drowsiness was gone.

"Yes, Otto?" he said.

"Twist, you won't believe me!" Otto began in a brisk manner. "My training is canceled for today, and I'm suddenly free after my work and- and- I mean, do you have any plans for tonight?"

"No plans!" Twister reported.

"How about going to the movie you wanted to watch?"

"You're kidding!" Twister cried. He didn't really care about some damn movie anymore; the most important thing was that, at last, he could be alone with Otto, for the first time in this screwed up June.

"Then I'll meet you at the cinema at four o'clock, don't worry about the tickets!" Otto rattled off; then he lowered his voice to add, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Twister replied quietly as well, so that only Otto could hear him.

The call ended, and Twister lay back with a huge smile on his face, rewinding this short conversation in his mind and dreaming of the evening. He even squeezed his pillow in a fit of excitement. However, at the same time, an apprehension crept into his mind that the plans could get ruined again. _No, no, no, not that! May everything be alright!_ He shook his head to clear his mind and got off the bed for the purpose of taking a shower— though it was early in the morning, he felt that he could not fall asleep again.

That was a real long time to wait – Twister was twisting himself up in knots all afternoon. He got dressed and ready too fast, in spite of choosing between his best T-shirts and sneakers; after that, he had nothing to do. Twister went out when it was only three o'clock; he hoped to kill the time by skating around. Impatient, he was skating across the nearby backstreets for a whole hour, constantly watching how many minutes he had yet to wait. At four o'clock sharp, to the nearest second, he had already been at the cinema, sitting on the bench, his arms around his skateboard. He kept on glancing at his watch almost every minute.

At four and two minutes he thought, "It doesn't mean anything, Otto will be here."

At five minutes, "He's rushing there!"

At ten minutes, "Keep calm! To my family, it isn't even being late."

At quarter past four: "Otto isn't really accurate, but he's very fast. He'll come running in the blink of an eye!"

At four and twenty, Twister became really anxious, because the movie was about to start in ten minutes. Otto still wasn't seen anywhere, no matter how hard Twister would peer into passers-by. Right in front of him, a couple ran to the ticket window with a ringing laugh. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw those two hold their hands behind their backs. He got upset.

"What's the matter, Ottoman..."

He shook his head. Then he suddenly slapped himself on the forehead. He realized that he could have called Otto long ago. Silently scolding himself, Twister dialed his number and waited for a response.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Shack, a black Motorola flip phone was ringing off the hook. But it was never meant to be heard because it was buried deep down in the bag that lay in the kitchen, and the owner was at the moment hurrying from one table to another to collect dirty dishes, as he tried to withstand the avalanche of new orders and never-ending complaints. Tito and Ray hardly managed the bar; they both looked crazy — try working in this mode all day long!

"Where's my ketchup?!" a bald-headed man yelled, as he angrily pounded his fist on the table, while Otto was passing by.

"Wait, please!" Otto answered, hardly holding the tray with lots of dishes in his hands.

Somebody on the right began insistently tugging at his sleeve; irritated, Otto turned to see that there was an old man, who wore round glasses and had a long beard.

Angry, the old man grumbled, "You forgot that I asked you not to put crackers in my salad and you put there a whole bunch of those darn crackers! Don't you see that I can't even chew them well?"

 _Just don't eat them, you shoobie!_

The reply near escaped Otto's lips, but he controlled himself, ignored the complaint and went on his way. He wanted to go faster, but either people in the queue, or customers, who were constantly coming and leaving, blocked his way at every turn. Suddenly, something little yet heavy smashed right into Otto; the next second, the only thing he could hear was deafening clatter around him.

"Aw, I'm sorry!" the girl exclaimed, as she got up from the floor with her skateboard.

Seeing what she had done, she dashed away. Buried under broken dishes, Otto hardly managed to get up, bursting with rage and irritation. Seeing what happened, worried, Ray hurried to his son to help him.

"I. Can. Not. Bear it." Otto said through gritted teeth, emphasizing every word.

He and Ray collected the dishes, broken and unbroken, and took it to the kitchen. There Ray looked at the clock and realized...

"It's five o'clock already! Sorry for this, Otto, you can go now. You'll get your money for overtime, don't worry."

"What do you mean five o'clock?!" Otto yelled, clutching his head.

From the outside was heard Tito's desperate yell, "Raymuuuundooo, help!"

"I'm coming, Tito!" Ray yelled in response and ran away, slamming the door.

Right away, Otto grabbed his bag, taking his phone out, as he went; seeing the number of missed calls, he rushed headlong to the back entrance, from which he skated off as fast as he could. He seemed to have gained his peak speed while dashing to the cinema, but he didn't care about it, as all he cared about was Twister. Just like Otto thought, Twister was not there. He clenched his fists and skated away, overwhelmed by fear and anger at himself and the circumstances. Twist must have already gone home, so Otto decided to go there, too.

* * *

Twister was not hard to find — he was sitting right on the asphalt at his fence, his headphones on and his phone in the hands. Otto slowed down in the middle of the cul-de-sac, making much noise; hearing this, Twister took off his headphones right away, but he barely moved, as if being bound. Otto jumped off the board and rushed to him. Right after getting at Twister, he hugged him, not hesitating for a second, but his embrace was unreciprocated.

Realizing that, Otto unfolded his arms and asked in a cautious voice, "Twist, is everything okay?"

Twister faced away, pretending not to see him.

"Heeey..." Otto said slowly, as he attempted to take Twister by the hand, but Twister snatched his hand away and moved over.

In that instant, Otto felt as if his heart dropped down. That was so… painful, unfamiliar.

"Listen..." Otto tried to appeal to Twister.

"I'm listening," he replied surly.

"Today the Shack was flooded by all those shoobies, Ray, Tito, and I went almost crazy of their rumbling, I didn't hear my phone because of that and also because it was lying in the kitchen, and I was outside, and I couldn't look at the clock 'cause I was extremely busy with all those stupid orders and complaints... and I really, really wanted to come..."

"That's a great story. Only, I've heard it too many times. Any other excuses?" Twister sniffed and stood up, obviously going to leave.

Otto snapped. "What do you mean?! I'm not lying, Twist, I swear! Ask Raymundo then, if you don't trust me!"

"I have no doubt in your honesty!" Twister raised his voice. "And that's not the point anyway!"

He quickly turned and walked away without a specific direction — he just did not want to be here.

Otto ran after him with a loud question, "Then what is?!"

Twister kept silent, adamantly walking into nowhere.

So Otto blocked his way and completely lost his temper, yelling, "Hey, Twist, what the hell?! How am I supposed to know what exactly I did wrong, when you're not telling me?"

Twister shuddered from these words and looked up at Otto. He was about to say something but fumbled for right words; all this while, Otto was glaring at him, his arms crossed. Finally, Twister decided to pour his heart.

"Otto, I just can't stand it! You're always off working, or training, and because of that we never see each other, though I know that in case you couldn't miss your training, you could've at least snuck out of the Shack, if you really wanted to! All we talked about this month was your competition, your job, your trip, your training... I mean, yes, we've always talked about it, but- but- it wasn't like that! Back then, it was fine! And, man, I hate that feeling, I... miss you."

The last words were almost silently mouthed; after that, Twister faced away.

"Why are you being like this?" he added quietly as if into the void. Otto kept silent, pondering over these words.

Then he started, "Do you know why I'm constantly working?"

Without waiting for a response, he continued, "I wanted to make quick work of it. I asked Ray and Noelani for money, but they refused to give me it for nothing, so I thought I would earn the money as soon as possible to spend the rest of my time with you. But, as always, things didn't go as planned because of all those shoobies, and I didn't know how to refuse to help Ray, as I was the one who volunteered for working overtime."

"Otto..." Twister stared at him, defeated. Then his tone suddenly became reproaching. "Man, why didn't you just tell me?!"

A faint smile on his face, Otto shook his head.

"Don't even ask. I don't know either."

He came closer to Twister and put out his hand towards him.

"So, will you forgive me?"

Twister met Otto's eyes and smiled, reaching out his hand as well.

"Woogity, woogity, woogity!" they chorused while making their handshake. Then they entwined their fingers and held their hands tightly. In a fit of passion, Otto reached for Twister's lips but all of a sudden realized.

"We're right in front of the windows of your house!"

Twister anxiously looked back and said, "Oh, right!"

So they stepped away, closer to the Rockets' house, where they hid in the shade of a tree. There they locked each other in embrace, tight yet tender, and threw themselves into a kiss, so long-awaited and passionate; every single little move and touch showed their before-suppressed longing for each other.

Caressing Otto's hair, Twister whispered, "You know, Otto... you were right. Maybe we really need to tell Reggie and Sam."

"Are you sure?!" Otto asked, barely disguising his surprise, and lifted his head off Twister's shoulder. "But you wanted to keep it a secret..."

Twister shook his head.

"Just because of that secret I had to be sad and lonely for almost a month! And now- right now, let's go and confess! Even if it costs us our lives..."

Saying this, Twister shivered: he was actually torn by fear and uncertainty.

"Dude, you sound like we're criminals!" Otto chuckled, but after thinking a bit, he added seriously, "Though our love is a real crime in almost all countries... man, how do we tell them?"

"Just relax, guys."

Twister and Otto sprang back from each other and turned their heads towards where the voice came from. There was Reggie, standing at the open window of her room and looking at them from the top.

Twister stared at her, his jaw dropped, and Otto asked in a confused manner, "Reg, you... watched us?"

Reggie rolled her eyes.

"I had to! You were practically yelling!"

The guys were stunned, standing there without any idea of what to tell her, so Reggie had to take control of the situation.

"Wait, I'll come down."

She disappeared from the window and came down just in a matter of seconds. Having come up to Otto and Twister, she cleared her throat and asked, "Am I right thinking you're seeing each other?"

Silent, Otto and Twister nodded, and Reg said, "To be honest, I didn't know for sure, but I'm not surprised either."

"How come?!" Twister cried, as he gave her a shocked look.

"Twist, you should've seen your face every time you're looking at Otto," Reggie grinned at him.

Twister got bashful, and Otto laughed at him. "And you were the one who strived for keeping it a secret!"

"And you, my little brother," Reggie turned to him, "are no good with disguise either, letting slip things like 'my beloved bro'."

"Really?!"

Now it was Twister's turn to laugh, and so bursting with laughter he was, that Otto had to stop him by saying, "Come on! Weren't you the first to nickname me like that?"

Twister had to take a back seat: that was the absolute truth.

Otto asked Reggie, "So, do you accept us?"

"What else can I do?" Reggie made a helpless gesture, smiling. "You're still my dear brother, and Twister is one of my best friends. There's nothing wrong with your relationship. You've always been inseparable, so nothing has changed much for me. But many things have become clear."

Otto beamed.

"Sis, you're the best!"

He looked at Twister and took his hand, correcting himself, "The best after Twister, of course."

"Oh, please!" Reggie replied, chuckling, and nudged her brother; he and Twister laughed in response. Then she said, "Now run along and explain it to Sammy, no matter how — he seems to have been really upset about your non-verbals."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Twister and Otto said together, then ran away. Reggie watched them go, then, pleased with herself, went back home.

* * *

Hearing insistent knocking and incessant ringing, Sam went downstairs and came to the door, puzzled: who would need him that bad? At the door, he saw Otto and Twister with toothed smiles plastered on their faces.

"Sammy, we gotta have a serious talk with you," Otto said.

Sam replied incredulously, "You don't look serious though..."

At the same time, he ran his eye over his friends and all of a sudden noticed they were holding hands tightly. So he added quickly, "Come in."

They all went upstairs into Sam's room; as he sat in his chair, hands clasped in his lap, he gave the guys an expectant look. Otto was first to speak.

"Well, Sam, you might have noticed that things have changed-"

"Sammy, I'm so sorry I bailed on you yesterday!" Twister interrupted him, bursting with his anxiety.

"It's okay, Twist!" Sam quickly reassured him. "But you really gave me a scare. What happened between you two anyway?"

A bit annoyed, Otto cleared his throat to attract Sam's attention and went on, "I've just been talking about it. So, the thing is..."

He gulped. Then he blurted out, "Twist and I are dating!"

At first, Sam opened his mouth, shocked, staring at him, then turned his gaze towards Twister; after that, the penny seemed to have dropped, and he sighed in evident relief.

"So that's what this was all about! I thought that- ahh, nevermind! How long?"

"Since the end of March," Otto replied.

"Since the beginning of April," Twister corrected.

"The end of March," Otto repeated tightly.

"The beginning of April!" Twister insisted.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Sam cut them off. "I think I got it: you started dating on the night of 31 March and on 1 April."

Otto and Twister exchanged glances and laughed, embarrassed, "Well, yeaaahhh..."

"Ah, then it makes perfect sense!" Sam jumped off his chair to come up to the table. There he found his blue notebook and said, as he flipped through it, "I've been making some notes since I first noticed something strange was going on..."

Embarrassed, Otto buried his face in his hands. "No reading aloud, please!"

"Okay, okay," Sam replied apologetically. "I wasn't going to. I'm just glad that the calm came after the storm, and the sky cleared up."

"And how do you know this Hawaiian saying?" Twister giggled.

"I think you can figure it out yourself." Sam waved his hand and continued, "Wow, guys, why didn't you just tell... I would never judge you."

"Thanks to Mauriiiice!" Otto said, as he defiantly stuck his tongue out at Twister. Twister glared at him, obviously wanting to reply in a sharp manner, but he wouldn't, as Sam remarked, "By the way, no family quarrels in this house."

He grinned and stretched his hand forward. The boys sprang up to him, stretching their hands forward as well.

"Woogity, woogity, woogity!"

 _Not without reason the sky was so clear and blue that summer day; after all, it was the time to clear up everything and, from then on, be honest with each other._


End file.
